With Ayn Rand lurking behind Paul Ryan's political agenda and about to invade our theaters ("Atlas Shrugged II" arrives Friday) we all have a chance to consider the literary influences claimed by our candidates. In Mitt Romney's case, L. Ron Hubbard's dystopian "Battlefield Earth" wins the prize as the would-be president's favorite novel. He noted this preference on Fox News in 2007, explaining, "I'm not in favor of his religion [Scientology] by any means," but it "was a very fun science-fiction book."
Fun it may be, but "Battlefield Earth" is also a thousand pages of violent pulp set in a post-apocalyptic future and filled with Scientology's grandiosity and fearfulness. Its characters are one dimensional and its plot is unreliable. Critics panned it as "laughable" and "tedious" and, in the words of The Economist, "atrociously written." In a typically sarcastic review, Punch noted that Hubbard "is well-enough aware of his weaknesses not to dwell upon frailties like love, generosity, compassion" in his writing.
Read Full Article »